Posted: 5/4/2007 11:23:16 AM EDT
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I have a question about hydration. Does the body have a limit on how much water it can effectively process? For instance, if I were to drink a gallon at one sitting would my body process all that water or would alot of it pass "through" without being processed? I guess what I'm asking is it better to drink smaller quantities at more frequent intervals? |
| Drinking small amounts frequently is better. You can over hydrate where you take in so much water that you flush out all your electrolytes. Then if you dont take in additional electrolytes all the water in the world wont hydrate you. Very rare, and you pretty much have to go beyond the limits of reason to do it, but it is something every athlete should be aware of. |
If you are dehydrated and need to restore fluid levels, and don't expect to be losing liquids again soon (ie, you aren't going back out in the hot sun to work), then it will probably be better to drink all the water that you need in a single sitting. If you are not dehydrated, your body won't store "extra" water, so drinking a lot of water at the beginning of a day where you'll be sweating all day won't help you. You would be better off spreading that water over the day. |
This is possible, yes, but difficult to do. It takes a LOT of water (if I recall correctly, the article I read about a couple of people who died from this drank something really obscene like several gallons at a sitting several times per day... when I read it I thought it would be impossible to drink that much liquid). I personally think the interval drinking is the way to go. If you want to pump your electrolytes without as much sugar, dissolve a "nuun" tablet in 16-20oz of water. Some ironman folks I train with (omg those guys are crazy) recommended them to me before the marathon in Feb and they're great! I probably drink between 4 and 6 liters of water a day depending on my training schedule... I'm a big fan of hydration. The joke is, if I'm not refilling my glass, I'm on the way to the bathroom. It's really amazing how big an effect even mild dehydration has on athletic performance. I ran a 10k recently starting out moderately dehydrated (I had been sick for a few days but figured I could suck it up and suffer through a measly 6.25 miles) and not only did my time suck, I damned near put myself in the hospital. |